This invention relates to degreaser compositions and, more particularly, to stable, aqueous degreaser compositions in the form of emulsions which exhibit excellent stability and degreasing efficacies.
Heretofore, the conventional and available cleaner/degreaser emulsion compositions have been water in oil or oil in water emulsions in which the organic solvent component is an inherently water insoluble organic solvent. Such available emulsion compositions include, for example, those marketed under the trade designations "Off" asphalt remover which contains the water insoluble solvents toluene and o-dichlorobenzene emulsified with a tall oil amide. Other available emulsion compositions contain water insoluble aromatic solvents such as xylene, kerosene, mineral spirits, benzene or naphthalene emulsified with various surfactants to form oil in water emulsions. Illustrative of such available emulsions are those marketed under the trade designations "Brulin 512M, "Spartan WRD-160", "Betco Emuisifiable Solvent Degreaser", "Amrep Jel-Sol", and "DuBois Actusol". In the preparation of such emulsions, an inherently water insoluble organic solvent, typically a hydrocarbon solvent is emulsified with one or more surfactants soluble in the solvent component. When this nonaqueous emulsion or solution is combined with water, a true milky emulsion is formed in which essentially none of the solvent component and only a relatively small amount of the surfactant component is dissolved in the aqueous phase. Thus, the cleaning/degreasing efficacy of such emulsion compositions is almost entirely derived from the nonaqueous or discontinuous phase of the emulsion containing the solvent component necessary to remove oleophilic (hydrophobic) soilants.
In my copending, co-assigned application Ser. No. 452,623 filed Dec. 19, 1989, there is disclosed improved aqueous cleaner/degreaser emulsion compositions which contain at least one sparingly water soluble organic solvent having certain characteristics, a solubilizing additive consisting of from 0.1 to 100 weight percent of a surfactant and from 0 to 99.9 weight percent of a coupler with the solubilizing additive being present in an amount insufficient to solubilize all of the total organic solvent content but sufficient to emulsify the unsolubilized portion of the total organic solvent content, and water. Such emulsion compositions contain a portion of the organic solvent component in the aqueous or continuous phase of the emulsion and the remainder of the organic solvent component in the emulsion or discontinuous phase thereby providing enhanced cleaning/degreasing efficacies.
While the available cleaner/degreaser emulsion compositions are efficacious, a shelf/storage stable, aqueous degreaser emulsion composition which does not require the presence of surfactants or the use of petroleum hydrocarbons and which is particularly efficacious for heavy industrial degreasing would be useful in the art.